Winsor, Linda Read Online Free PDF Page A

right knee gave out, throwing her
off balance against Shep.
    "My
ankle," she gasped, trying to explain her sprawling assault.
    "Must
have landed on it wrong when you dismounted." He steadied her with one arm
about her waist. After what seemed a moment of indecision, he handed her back
the spray canister. "Here, hold this and keep the cap on." Without
further ado, he swept her good leg out from under her and lifted her in his
arms.
    "You
sure you trust me?"
    "I
guess we have to start somewhere." He shrugged. "Besides, where are
you going to run off to?"
    Deanna
kept her fallback plan of following the electric lines to civilization to
herself, tucking the spray back in her purse. But after the battering she'd
given her rescuer with it, her purse didn't want to close right, adding insult
to injury. This was a hundred-and-fifty-dollar designer clutch ruined, even if
she had found it for twenty-five in a Fifth Avenue bargain basement.
    "A
good soak in some salts and you'll feel like a new person."
    "I
didn't say I was staying... after I eat, that is. You said there was a
Jeep—"
    The
press of Shep's lips expressed his waning patience. He had every right to be
annoyed with her. He was trying to be hospitable in an inhospitable place. That
alone should win him an A for effort.
    "I'm
sorry I should be thanking you, not asking you to do more for me."
    "It
was my horse that got you into this fix and you were pretty shaken up," he
answered, with a guarded grace as he climbed the step to the porch of the main
house.
    "I
didn't have to hit you." She touched the corner of his lip on impulse and
he tensed in response.
    Their
gazes locked for the time it took the screen door he'd swung open with his boot
tip to bounce back. It wasn't long by any means, but then, electricity traveled
light speeds faster than second thoughts. Every one of Deanna's senses
heightened along its charged path, the same awareness that seized him seizing
her as well.
    Beyond
the dust of the trail and unshaven stubble were eyes that defied the label of
brown. She watched, fascinated as a renegade come hither kindled in
their gold-flecked umber only to be willfully doused by the mask of indifference
claiming his face.
    Once
inside, he all but dropped her. "Make yourself at home. I'll get a tub for
that ankle."
    Deanna
bobbed her head, still dumb from the shock, as he retreated through a narrow
hallway into another room. He seemed to favor one leg. She hadn't noticed it
before. Or was it just her imagination?
    Hobbling
over to a pine-framed sofa with plump plaid cushions of fifties vintage, she
dropped down to take off her shoes and trouser socks.
    "I
figure I can start the grill and take a quick shower while you're
soaking," he hollered above the sound of running water. "Then you can
wash off some of the dust while I fix supper."
    Deanna
scowled in the direction of his voice. Clearly Shep was a man accustomed to
taking charge, but at the moment, the only fault she could find with his
reasoning was that it wasn't her idea.
    She
was used to being in control—at least until C. R. had come into her life. No
way would she allow another man to control her life. Yet, she needed food or
she wouldn't have the strength to control her next blink. She'd just play along
until they reached a fork in the road of their intentions before showing him no
one rode herd over her.
    Ride
herd? Fork in the road of their intentions? With a groan, Deanna buried her
face in her hands. Lord, puh-leeze help me find a way back East before I
start chewing tobacco and taking pride in my aim back at the Hopeless Ranch in
Buffalo Butte, the backside of the world! If I have to be herded by Shepard
Jones, let me be herded home.

Three
    Once
Deanna was situated with a foot tub, a cartoon character jelly glass of orange
juice, and bag of pretzels to stave off starvation, her grubby but obliging
host abandoned her. Like him, the house was laid back, fifties retro with
knotty pine paneling and cabinets in